beta version – Software is usually tested in-house first (alpha testing) , then a few select customers are given early copies to try in the real world (beta testing). Anything referred to as "beta" is something that’s not yet finished or is an inferior version. Logically, a finished product should be a "gamma" version but instead it‘s normally called the "release" version.
content-free – A message that contains little or no actual information. Often used when referring to political speeches and advertisements.
droid – From the science fiction word android, a humanlike robot. On the Internet, a person who blindly trusts authority and who follows orders without question. Also, a low-level bureaucrat who sticks to a very narrow interpretation of the rules. Used disparagingly as in, "Athelbert is a droid" or with a modifier added to connect the person to a particular department or job, "Athelbert is a suit droid," meaning that the supervisor Athelbert takes company management policies too seriously.
Dumpster diving – Unauthorized collecting of data about a company by digging in its trash. Many businesses have been known to throw out documents containing customer credit card data, employee passwords and so forth without first shredding them. Dumpster diving is a time-honored pastime for those engaged in corporate espionage or teenagers looking for trouble.
emotags – Used like emoticons to clarify the author’s intent, except that emotags use the HTML tag convention. Common ones are <g> or <grin>, meaning "I’m not serious" or, <rant> blah blah blah </rant>, meaning that the words in between the tags are all to be whatever the tag defines them as.
hardwired – Anything that can’t be modified by the user, from computer applications to the human brain. As in, "Humans are hardwired to see optical illusions".
hive mind – A sort of science fiction insect reference. Posters to specialized discussion groups use the term in the assumption that many brains are better than one, therefore simultaneously posting a question to several hundred experts should provide a quicker or better answer. A typical usage might be, "I have a question for the hive mind," meaning, "I’m asking the group to act as a single organism and solve this problem for me".
mousetrap – The original mousetrap was a device that allowed a mouse to enter but prevented it from leaving without killing it, not the snapping kind sold in most stores these days. Once you land in an Internet mousetrap the Back button of your browser, along with most other features, is disabled. You may have to close your browser or even restart your computer to be free. Mousetraps are used by irritating sites trying to sell you things, although I can’t imagine that anyone would be foolish enough to buy online merchandise from an site that used such sleazy sales tactics.
newbie – Someone who has only recently joined an online discussion group. The same person may be an old regular in one group but a newbie in another.
offline – To discuss a subject somewhere else besides in a discussion group. As in, "Anyone who wants to know more about this subject can contact me offline." Meaning that those interested should contact the writer by direct email or telephone rather than posting public messages to the discussion group.
readme file – Usually a text file associated with a particular software program. Users are expected to open the readme file before installing the software because it may contain important last-minute information about the software or other useful facts. The name probably originated from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland where magical food and drink were labeled "Eat Me" and "Drink Me".
skin – Software that changes the look of your browser to match a theme. If you install a skin, the colors, buttons, menu bar, and so forth of your browser will appear different, although it should still do the same things as before. Many Internet sites offer free skins based on popular movies and TV shows, particularly science fiction.
snail-mail – The U.S. Post Office. Antonym of email.
social engineering – Tricking people into revealing passwords or other sensitive data. The standard technique involves the trickster using email or telephone calls while pretending to be someone who is authorized to have the classified information. The most vulnerable part of any security system is the humans who have legitimate access.
wetware – Hardware is computers and all their peripherals, software is computer programs but wetware means people. Used as in, "I’ll have to interface with the city utility’s wetware to clear up that bill, " meaning, "I’ll have to talk to someone in person at the city utility office to clear up that bill".