Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 15:27:04 -0500 From: Gareth Branwyn Subject: Re: Ping of Death In a message dated 11/11/97 8:09:43 AM, Monkmag[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM wrote: >In How To Talk American I define "wave a dead chicken" this way: "to perform >a useless and irrelevant repair on a severely damaged computer to prove to >the customer you at least tried to fix it." Gareth, have you noticed this >expression used in this context? Yes, it can be used in any situation where you're reduced to voodoo, either in an attempt to repair a broken computer, or to satisfy yourself or someone else that the computer is, in fact, broken. I think the _Hacker's Dictionary_ basically uses the definition you've given above, but it doesn't have to be just to satisfy a customer and boss. I hear it used all the time in referring to one's own hopeless attempts at fixing a damaged or broken machine. -------------------------------------------------- Gareth Branwyn garethb2[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com, http://home.earthlink.net/~garethb2/ Contributing editor, Wired Senior editor, bOING bOING Co-author _Happy Mutant Handbook_ , _Internet Power Toolkit_ Author, _Jargon Watch: A Pocket Dictionary for the Jitterati_