| slovo | definícia |
blink
(mass) | blink
- mrkať, blikať |
blink
(encz) | blink,blikat v: Zdeněk Brož |
blink
(encz) | blink,mrkat v: Zdeněk Brož |
blink
(encz) | blink,mrknout v: Zdeněk Brož |
blink
(encz) | blink,mrknutí n: Zdeněk Brož |
Blink
(gcide) | Blink \Blink\ (bl[i^][ng]k), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blinked
(bl[i^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Blinking.] [OE. blenken;
akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance,
wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken
to glance, twinkle, G. blicken to look, glance, AS.
bl[imac]can to shine, E. bleak. [root]98. See Bleak; cf.
1st Blench.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
[1913 Webster]
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame. --Pope
[1913 Webster]
2. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with
frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
[1913 Webster]
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To shine, esp. with intermittent light; to twinkle; to
flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
[1913 Webster]
The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink.
--Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
The sun blinked fair on pool and stream . --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
4. To turn slightly sour, as beer, mild, etc.
[1913 Webster] |
Blink
(gcide) | Blink \Blink\, v. t.
1. To shut out of sight; to avoid, or purposely evade; to
shirk; as, to blink the question.
[1913 Webster]
2. To trick; to deceive. [Scot.] --Jamieson.
[1913 Webster] |
Blink
(gcide) | Blink \Blink\, n. [OE. blink. See Blink, v. i. ]
1. A glimpse or glance.
[1913 Webster]
This is the first blink that ever I had of him.
--Bp. Hall.
[1913 Webster]
2. Gleam; glimmer; sparkle. --Sir W. Scott.
[1913 Webster]
Not a blink of light was there. --Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by
the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; ice
blink.
[1913 Webster]
4. pl. [Cf. Blencher.] (Sporting) Boughs cast where deer
are to pass, to turn or check them. [Prov. Eng.]
[1913 Webster] |
blink
(wn) | blink
n 1: a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly [syn:
blink, eye blink, blinking, wink, winking,
nictitation, nictation]
v 1: briefly shut the eyes; "The TV announcer never seems to
blink" [syn: blink, wink, nictitate, nictate]
2: force to go away by blinking; "blink away tears" [syn:
wink, blink, blink away]
3: gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing"
[syn: flash, blink, wink, twinkle, winkle] |
| | podobné slovo | definícia |
blinker
(mass) | blinker
- bllinker |
blinked
(encz) | blinked,mrkal v: Zdeněk Brožblinked,mrkl Jaroslav Šedivýblinked,mrknul Jaroslav Šedivý |
blinker
(encz) | blinker,blikač n: Zdeněk Brožblinker,blinkr n: Zdeněk Brož |
blinkered
(encz) | blinkered,úzkoprsý adj: Zdeněk Brož |
blinkers
(encz) | blinkers,klapky na oči (u koně) Petr Machek |
blinking
(encz) | blinking,blikající adj: Zdeněk Brož |
eye blink
(encz) | eye blink, n: |
in the blink of an eye
(encz) | in the blink of an eye,mrknutím oka [id.] [fráz.] Tomáš Čerevka |
unblinking
(encz) | unblinking, |
unblinkingly
(encz) | unblinkingly,upřeně Jaroslav Šedivý |
blinkr
(czen) | blinkr,blinkern: Zdeněk Brožblinkr,indicatorn: xkomczaxblinkr,trafficatorn: Zdeněk Brožblinkr,winkern: [hovor.] PetrV |
blinkry
(czen) | blinkry,indicatorsn: pl. xkomczax |
bublinka
(czen) | bublinka,blebn: Zdeněk Brožbublinka,blister Martin M.bublinka,bubble Zdeněk Brož |
bublinková lázeň
(czen) | bublinková lázeň,bubble bath |
reality on the blink again
(czen) | Reality On The Blink Again,ROTBA[zkr.] |
vzduchová bublinka
(czen) | vzduchová bublinka,air bubblen: Clock |
Blink
(gcide) | Blink \Blink\ (bl[i^][ng]k), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blinked
(bl[i^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Blinking.] [OE. blenken;
akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance,
wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken
to glance, twinkle, G. blicken to look, glance, AS.
bl[imac]can to shine, E. bleak. [root]98. See Bleak; cf.
1st Blench.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
[1913 Webster]
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame. --Pope
[1913 Webster]
2. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with
frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
[1913 Webster]
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To shine, esp. with intermittent light; to twinkle; to
flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
[1913 Webster]
The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink.
--Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
The sun blinked fair on pool and stream . --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
4. To turn slightly sour, as beer, mild, etc.
[1913 Webster]Blink \Blink\, v. t.
1. To shut out of sight; to avoid, or purposely evade; to
shirk; as, to blink the question.
[1913 Webster]
2. To trick; to deceive. [Scot.] --Jamieson.
[1913 Webster]Blink \Blink\, n. [OE. blink. See Blink, v. i. ]
1. A glimpse or glance.
[1913 Webster]
This is the first blink that ever I had of him.
--Bp. Hall.
[1913 Webster]
2. Gleam; glimmer; sparkle. --Sir W. Scott.
[1913 Webster]
Not a blink of light was there. --Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by
the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; ice
blink.
[1913 Webster]
4. pl. [Cf. Blencher.] (Sporting) Boughs cast where deer
are to pass, to turn or check them. [Prov. Eng.]
[1913 Webster] |
Blink beer
(gcide) | Blink beer \Blink" beer`\
Beer kept unbroached until it is sharp. --Crabb.
[1913 Webster] |
Blinkard
(gcide) | Blinkard \Blink"ard\, n. [Blind + -ard.]
1. One who blinks with, or as with, weak eyes.
[1913 Webster]
Among the blind the one-eyed blinkard reigns.
--Marvell.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which twinkles or glances, as a dim star, which
appears and disappears. --Hakewill.
[1913 Webster] |
Blinked
(gcide) | Blink \Blink\ (bl[i^][ng]k), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blinked
(bl[i^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Blinking.] [OE. blenken;
akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance,
wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken
to glance, twinkle, G. blicken to look, glance, AS.
bl[imac]can to shine, E. bleak. [root]98. See Bleak; cf.
1st Blench.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
[1913 Webster]
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame. --Pope
[1913 Webster]
2. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with
frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
[1913 Webster]
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To shine, esp. with intermittent light; to twinkle; to
flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
[1913 Webster]
The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink.
--Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
The sun blinked fair on pool and stream . --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
4. To turn slightly sour, as beer, mild, etc.
[1913 Webster] |
Blinker
(gcide) | Blinker \Blink"er\, n.
1. One who, or that which, blinks.
[1913 Webster]
2. A blinder for horses; a flap of leather on a horse's
bridle to prevent him from seeing objects as his side
hence, whatever obstructs sight or discernment.
[1913 Webster]
Nor bigots who but one way see,
through blinkers of authority. --M. Green.
[1913 Webster]
3. pl. A kind of goggles, used to protect the eyes form
glare, etc.
[1913 Webster] |
Blink-eyed
(gcide) | Blink-eyed \Blink"-eyed`\, a.
Habitually winking. --Marlowe.
[1913 Webster] blintz |
Blinking
(gcide) | Blink \Blink\ (bl[i^][ng]k), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blinked
(bl[i^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Blinking.] [OE. blenken;
akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance,
wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken
to glance, twinkle, G. blicken to look, glance, AS.
bl[imac]can to shine, E. bleak. [root]98. See Bleak; cf.
1st Blench.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
[1913 Webster]
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame. --Pope
[1913 Webster]
2. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with
frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
[1913 Webster]
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To shine, esp. with intermittent light; to twinkle; to
flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
[1913 Webster]
The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink.
--Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
The sun blinked fair on pool and stream . --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
4. To turn slightly sour, as beer, mild, etc.
[1913 Webster] |
blinking winking
(gcide) | closed \closed\ adj.
1. having an opening obstructed. [Narrower terms: blind]
Also See: obstructed, sealed, shut, unopen,
closed. Antonym: open.
[WordNet 1.5]
2. (Math.) of a curve or surface: having no end points or
boundary curves; of a set: having members that can be
produced by a specific operation on other members of the
same set; of an interval: containing both its endpoints.
open
[WordNet 1.5]
3. Being in a position to obstruct an opening; -- especially
of doors. [Narrower terms: fastened, latched] Also See:
closed. Antonym: open.
Syn: shut, unopen.
[WordNet 1.5]
4. having skin drawn so as to obstruct the opening; -- used
of mouth or eyes. Opposite of open. he sat quietly with
closed eyes [Narrower terms: blinking, winking;
compressed, tight; squinched, squinting]
Syn: shut.
[WordNet 1.5]
5. requiring union membership; -- of a workplace; as, a
closed shop. [prenominal]
[WordNet 1.5]
6. closed with shutters.
[WordNet 1.5]
7. hidden from the public; as, a closed ballot.
[WordNet 1.5]
8. not open to the general public; as, a closed meeting.
[WordNet 1.5]
9. unsympathetic; -- of a person's attitude. a closed mind
unreceptive to new ideas
[WordNet 1.5]
10. surrounded by walls. a closed porch
Syn: closed in(predicate).
[WordNet 1.5]
11. made compact by bending or doubling over; as, a closed
map.
Syn: folded.
[WordNet 1.5]
12. closed or fastened with or as if with buttons. [Narrower
terms: buttoned (vs. unbuttoned)]
[WordNet 1.5]
13. not engaged in activity; -- of an organization or
business establishment. the airport is closed because of
the weather; the many closed shops and factories made the
town look deserted
Syn: shut down.
[WordNet 1.5] |
blinks
(gcide) | blinks \blinks\ (bl[i^][ng]ks), n.
a typ of small Indian lettuce (Montia lamprosperma) of
northern regions.
Syn: blinking chickweed, water chickweed.
[WordNet 1.5] |
Ice blink
(gcide) | Ice \Ice\ ([imac]s), n. [OE. is, iis, AS. [imac]s; aksin to D.
ijs, G. eis, OHG. [imac]s, Icel. [imac]ss, Sw. is, Dan. iis,
and perh. to E. iron.]
1. Water or other fluid frozen or reduced to the solid state
by cold; frozen water. It is a white or transparent
colorless substance, crystalline, brittle, and viscoidal.
Its specific gravity (0.92, that of water at 4[deg] C.
being 1.0) being less than that of water, ice floats.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Water freezes at 32[deg] F. or 0[deg] Cent., and ice
melts at the same temperature. Ice owes its cooling
properties to the large amount of heat required to melt
it.
[1913 Webster]
2. Concreted sugar. --Johnson.
[1913 Webster]
3. Water, cream, custard, etc., sweetened, flavored, and
artificially frozen.
[1913 Webster]
4. Any substance having the appearance of ice; as, camphor
ice.
[1913 Webster]
Anchor ice, ice which sometimes forms about stones and
other objects at the bottom of running or other water, and
is thus attached or anchored to the ground.
Bay ice, ice formed in bays, fiords, etc., often in
extensive fields which drift out to sea.
Ground ice, anchor ice.
Ice age (Geol.), the glacial epoch or period. See under
Glacial.
Ice anchor (Naut.), a grapnel for mooring a vessel to a
field of ice. --Kane.
Ice blink [Dan. iisblink], a streak of whiteness of the
horizon, caused by the reflection of light from ice not
yet in sight.
Ice boat.
(a) A boat fitted with skates or runners, and propelled on
ice by sails; an ice yacht.
(b) A strong steamboat for breaking a channel through ice.
Ice box or Ice chest, a box for holding ice; a box in
which things are kept cool by means of ice; a
refrigerator.
Ice brook, a brook or stream as cold as ice. [Poetic]
--Shak.
Ice cream [for iced cream], cream, milk, or custard,
sweetened, flavored, and frozen.
Ice field, an extensive sheet of ice.
Ice float, Ice floe, a sheet of floating ice similar to
an ice field, but smaller.
Ice foot, shore ice in Arctic regions; an ice belt. --Kane.
Ice house, a close-covered pit or building for storing ice.
Ice machine (Physics), a machine for making ice
artificially, as by the production of a low temperature
through the sudden expansion of a gas or vapor, or the
rapid evaporation of a volatile liquid.
Ice master. See Ice pilot (below).
Ice pack, an irregular mass of broken and drifting ice.
Ice paper, a transparent film of gelatin for copying or
reproducing; papier glac['e].
Ice petrel (Zool.), a shearwater (Puffinus gelidus) of
the Antarctic seas, abundant among floating ice.
Ice pick, a sharp instrument for breaking ice into small
pieces.
Ice pilot, a pilot who has charge of a vessel where the
course is obstructed by ice, as in polar seas; -- called
also ice master.
Ice pitcher, a pitcher adapted for ice water.
Ice plow, a large tool for grooving and cutting ice.
[1913 Webster] |
Land blink
(gcide) |
[1913 Webster]
Note: In the expressions "to be, or dwell, upon land," "to
go, or fare, on land," as used by Chaucer, land denotes
the country as distinguished from the town.
[1913 Webster]
A poor parson dwelling upon land [i.e., in the
country]. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
3. Ground, in respect to its nature or quality; soil; as, wet
land; good or bad land.
[1913 Webster]
4. The inhabitants of a nation or people.
[1913 Webster]
These answers, in the silent night received,
The king himself divulged, the land believed.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
5. The mainland, in distinction from islands.
[1913 Webster]
6. The ground or floor. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Herself upon the land she did prostrate. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
7. (Agric.) The ground left unplowed between furrows; any one
of several portions into which a field is divided for
convenience in plowing.
[1913 Webster]
8. (Law) Any ground, soil, or earth whatsoever, as meadows,
pastures, woods, etc., and everything annexed to it,
whether by nature, as trees, water, etc., or by the hand
of man, as buildings, fences, etc.; real estate. --Kent.
Bouvier. Burrill.
[1913 Webster]
9. (Naut.) The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat;
the lap of plates in an iron vessel; -- called also
landing. --Knight.
[1913 Webster]
10. In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations,
or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so
treated, as the level part of a millstone between the
furrows, or the surface of the bore of a rifled gun
between the grooves.
[1913 Webster]
Land agent, a person employed to sell or let land, to
collect rents, and to attend to other money matters
connected with land.
Land boat, a vehicle on wheels propelled by sails.
Land blink, a peculiar atmospheric brightness seen from sea
over distant snow-covered land in arctic regions. See {Ice
blink}.
Land breeze. See under Breeze.
Land chain. See Gunter's chain.
Land crab (Zool.), any one of various species of crabs
which live much on the land, and resort to the water
chiefly for the purpose of breeding. They are abundant in
the West Indies and South America. Some of them grow to a
large size.
Land fish a fish on land; a person quite out of place.
--Shak.
Land force, a military force serving on land, as
distinguished from a naval force.
Land, ho! (Naut.), a sailor's cry in announcing sight of
land.
Land ice, a field of ice adhering to the coast, in
distinction from a floe.
Land leech (Zool.), any one of several species of
blood-sucking leeches, which, in moist, tropical regions,
live on land, and are often troublesome to man and beast.
Land measure, the system of measurement used in determining
the area of land; also, a table of areas used in such
measurement.
Land of bondage or House of bondage, in Bible history,
Egypt; by extension, a place or condition of special
oppression.
Land o' cakes, Scotland.
Land of Nod, sleep.
Land of promise, in Bible history, Canaan: by extension, a
better country or condition of which one has expectation.
Land of steady habits, a nickname sometimes given to the
State of Connecticut.
Land office, a government office in which the entries upon,
and sales of, public land are registered, and other
business respecting the public lands is transacted. [U.S.]
Land pike. (Zool.)
(a) The gray pike, or sauger.
(b) The Menobranchus.
Land service, military service as distinguished from naval
service.
Land rail. (Zool)
(a) The crake or corncrake of Europe. See Crake.
(b) An Australian rail (Hypot[ae]nidia Phillipensis);
-- called also pectoral rail.
Land scrip, a certificate that the purchase money for a
certain portion of the public land has been paid to the
officer entitled to receive it. [U.S.]
Land shark, a swindler of sailors on shore. [Sailors' Cant]
Land side
(a) That side of anything in or on the sea, as of an
island or ship, which is turned toward the land.
(b) The side of a plow which is opposite to the moldboard
and which presses against the unplowed land.
Land snail (Zool.), any snail which lives on land, as
distinguished from the aquatic snails are Pulmonifera, and
belong to the Geophila; but the operculated land snails of
warm countries are Di[oe]cia, and belong to the
T[ae]nioglossa. See Geophila, and Helix.
Land spout, a descent of cloud and water in a conical form
during the occurrence of a tornado and heavy rainfall on
land.
Land steward, a person who acts for another in the
management of land, collection of rents, etc.
Land tortoise, Land turtle (Zool.), any tortoise that
habitually lives on dry land, as the box tortoise. See
Tortoise.
Land warrant, a certificate from the Land Office,
authorizing a person to assume ownership of a public land.
[U.S.]
Land wind. Same as Land breeze (above).
To make land (Naut.), to sight land.
To set the land, to see by the compass how the land bears
from the ship.
To shut in the land, to hide the land, as when fog, or an
intervening island, obstructs the view.
[1913 Webster] |
Moonblink
(gcide) | Moonblink \Moon"blink`\, n.
A temporary blindness, or impairment of sight, said to be
caused by sleeping in the moonlight; -- sometimes called
nyctalopia.
[1913 Webster] |
Sunblink
(gcide) | Sunblink \Sun"blink`\, n.
A glimpse or flash of the sun. [Scot.] --Sir W. Scott.
[1913 Webster] |
unblinking
(gcide) | emotionless \e*mo"tion*less\ adj.
1. unsusceptible to, destitute of, or showing no emotion;
unmoved by feeling. Opposite of emotional; as, he kept
his emotionless objectivity and faith in the cause he
served. [Narrower terms: matter-of-fact, prosaic;
philosophical, philosophic; {phlegmatic, phlegmatical,
stolid}; stoic, stoical; unblinking] Also See: cool,
passionless, unmoved(predicate), unmoving.
Syn: unemotional, passionless.
[WordNet 1.5] |
blink away
(wn) | blink away
v 1: force to go away by blinking; "blink away tears" [syn:
wink, blink, blink away] |
blink of an eye
(wn) | blink of an eye
n 1: a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or
the heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a
flash" [syn: blink of an eye, flash, heartbeat,
instant, jiffy, split second, trice, twinkling,
wink, New York minute] |
blinker
(wn) | blinker
n 1: a light that flashes on and off; used as a signal or to
send messages [syn: blinker, flasher]
2: a blinking light on a motor vehicle that indicates the
direction in which the vehicle is about to turn [syn:
blinker, turn signal, turn indicator, trafficator]
3: blind consisting of a leather eyepatch sewn to the side of
the halter that prevents a horse from seeing something on
either side [syn: winker, blinker, blinder]
v 1: put blinders on (a horse) |
blinking
(wn) | blinking
adj 1: closing the eyes intermittently and rapidly; "he stood
blinking in the bright sunlight" [syn: blinking,
winking]
2: informal intensifiers; "what a bally (or blinking) nuisance";
"a bloody fool"; "a crashing bore"; "you flaming idiot" [syn:
bally(a), blinking(a), bloody(a), blooming(a),
crashing(a), flaming(a), fucking(a)]
n 1: a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly [syn:
blink, eye blink, blinking, wink, winking,
nictitation, nictation] |
blinking chickweed
(wn) | blinking chickweed
n 1: small Indian lettuce of northern regions [syn: blinks,
blinking chickweed, water chickweed, {Montia
lamprosperma}] |
blinks
(wn) | blinks
n 1: small Indian lettuce of northern regions [syn: blinks,
blinking chickweed, water chickweed, {Montia
lamprosperma}] |
eye blink
(wn) | eye blink
n 1: a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly [syn:
blink, eye blink, blinking, wink, winking,
nictitation, nictation] |
lablink
(wn) | LABLINK
n 1: a defense laboratory that provides essential services in
fundamental science for national security and environmental
protection and provides technologies that contribute to
industrial competitiveness [syn: {Department of Defense
Laboratory System}, LABLINK] |
unblinking
(wn) | unblinking
adj 1: showing no visible emotion; "stood unblinking and
accepted a sentence of a year"
2: not shrinking from danger [syn: unblinking, unflinching,
unintimidated, unshrinking] |
unblinkingly
(wn) | unblinkingly
adv 1: showing no emotion; "the convicted killer listened
unblinkingly to the reading of his sentence" |
blinkenlights
(foldoc) | blinkenlights
/blink'*n-li:tz/ Front-panel diagnostic lights on a computer,
especially a dinosaur. Derives from the last word of the
famous blackletter-Gothic sign in mangled pseudo-German that
once graced about half the computer rooms in the
English-speaking world. One version ran in its entirety as
follows:
ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und
mittengrabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk,
blowenfusen und poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht
fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken
sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das pockets
muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.
This silliness dates back at least as far as 1959 at Stanford
University and had already gone international by the early
1960s, when it was reported at London University's ATLAS
computing site. There are several variants of it in
circulation, some of which actually do end with the word
"blinkenlights".
In an amusing example of turnabout-is-fair-play, German
hackers have developed their own versions of the blinkenlights
poster in fractured English, one of which is reproduced here:
ATTENTION
This room is fullfilled mit special electronische
equippment. Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from
the computers is allowed for die experts only! So all the
"lefthanders" stay away and do not disturben the
brainstorming von here working intelligencies. Otherwise
you will be out thrown and kicked anderswhere! Also: please
keep still and only watchen astaunished the blinkenlights.
See also geef.
[Jargon File]
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blinkenlights
(jargon) | blinkenlights
/blink'@n·li:tz/, n.
[common] Front-panel diagnostic lights on a computer, esp. a dinosaur.
Now that dinosaurs are rare, this term usually refers to status lights on a
modem, network hub, or the like.
This term derives from the last word of the famous blackletter-Gothic sign
in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half the computer rooms in
the English-speaking world. One version ran in its entirety as follows:
ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
Alles touristen und non-technischen looken peepers!
Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben.
Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken
mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen.
Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das
pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.
This silliness dates back at least as far as 1955 at IBM and had already
gone international by the early 1960s, when it was reported at London
University's ATLAS computing site. There are several variants of it in
circulation, some of which actually do end with the word ‘blinkenlights’.
In an amusing example of turnabout-is-fair-play, German hackers have
developed their own versions of the blinkenlights poster in fractured
English, one of which is reproduced here:
ATTENTION
This room is fullfilled mit special electronische equippment.
Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from the computers is
allowed for die experts only! So all the “lefthanders” stay away
and do not disturben the brainstorming von here working
intelligencies. Otherwise you will be out thrown and kicked
anderswhere! Also: please keep still and only watchen astaunished
the blinkenlights.
See also geef.
Old-time hackers sometimes get nostalgic for blinkenlights because they
were so much more fun to look at than a blank panel. Sadly, very few
computers still have them (the three LEDs on a PC keyboard certainly don't
count). The obvious reasons (cost of wiring, cost of front-panel cutouts,
almost nobody needs or wants to interpret machine-register states on the
fly anymore) are only part of the story. Another part of it is that
radio-frequency leakage from the lamp wiring was beginning to be a problem
as far back as transistor machines. But the most fundamental fact is that
there are very few signals slow enough to blink an LED these days! With
slow CPUs, you could watch the bus register or instruction counter tick,
but even at 33/66/150MHz (let alone gigahertz speeds) it's all a blur.
Despite this, a couple of relatively recent computer designs of note have
featured programmable blinkenlights that were added just because they
looked cool. The Connection Machine, a 65,536-processor parallel computer
designed in the mid-1980s, was a black cube with one side covered with a
grid of red blinkenlights; the sales demo had them evolving life
patterns. A few years later the ill-fated BeBox (a personal computer
designed to run the BeOS operating system) featured twin rows of
blinkenlights on the case front. When Be, Inc. decided to get out of the
hardware business in 1996 and instead ported their OS to the PowerPC and
later to the Intel architecture, many users suffered severely from the
absence of their beloved blinkenlights. Before long an external version of
the blinkenlights driven by a PC serial port became available; there is
some sort of plot symmetry in the fact that it was assembled by a German.
Finally, a version updated for the Internet has been seen on
news.admin.net-abuse.email:
ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
Das Internet is nicht fuer gefingerclicken und giffengrabben. Ist easy
droppenpacket der routers und overloaden der backbone mit der spammen
und der me-tooen. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das
mausklicken sichtseeren keepen das bandwit-spewin hans in das pockets
muss; relaxen und watchen das cursorblinken.
This newest version partly reflects reports that the word ‘blinkenlights’
is (in 1999) undergoing something of a revival in usage, but applied to
networking equipment. The transmit and receive lights on routers, activity
lights on switches and hubs, and other network equipment often blink in
visually pleasing and seemingly coordinated ways. Although this is
different in some ways from register readings, a tall stack of Cisco
equipment or a 19-inch rack of ISDN terminals can provoke a similar feeling
of hypnotic awe, especially in a darkened network operations center or
server room.
The ancestor of the original blinkenlights posters of the 1950s was
probably this:
[gefingerpo]
WWII-era machine-shop poster
We are informed that cod-German parodies of this kind were very common in
Allied machine shops during and following WWII. Germans, then as now, had a
reputation for being both good with precision machinery and prone to
officious notices.
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