Options

A field in a datagram, or IP packet header. This field is not required in every datagram, though all standard implementations must include it. The options are primarily for network testing or debugging.

The length of the field depends on which options are chosen. Some options are one octet long, and consist of a single octet option code; others are of variable length. Each option has a single octet code, which is divided into three fields: a 1-bit copy flag, a 2-bit option class, and the 5-bit option number. The copy flag determines how routers treat options during fragmentation. The option class specifies the general option class and the option number specifies a specific option within that class. The single octet code may be followed by a single octet length and a set of data octets.

Some frequently used options:

• Record route - Provides room for each router to enter the address of its outgoing interface as the packet travels. Similar to trace, but the outgoing interfaces on the path to and from the destination are recorded.
  
• Timestamp - Similar to record route except the router also includes a timestamp.
  
• Loose source routing - A series of IP addresses for interfaces is listed. Each must be used to pass the packet, but other hops in between are allowed.
  
• Strict source routing - Like loose source, only the route must be followed exactly, with no hops in between.
  

Pulsating energy blobs in the old NES game Gradius and its brother Life Force that mimic your ship's actions (i.e. movement and attack). Very useful, as they double and triple your ship's firepower, and can block enemy attacks when positioned correctly.

Options can not be destroyed, but will drift off of the screen upon the destruction of your craft. If you're quick enough, you can recapture them when your ship regenerates.

"Options" are the common name for an options contract, which are a purchased agreement (a contract, acutally) for the ability (the, "option") to buy a set number of shares at a pre-determined price. An options contract represents 100 shares of underlying stock.

There are a couple of types of options, including:

• call options (on the selling side: covered calls and naked calls
• put options

Why do people buy options? Leverage. Consider the following example:

Our mythical stock, Everything2 Incorporated (ETWO), is currently trading at $75 per share. There are some call options available for purchase at 1/2, with a strike price of $80 per share. We, being the risky type of people we are, purchase 10 of the said options contracts and pay out $500 (1/2 * 100 * 10 = $500). We now own the option to buy 1000 shares of ETWO if the strike price of $80 is made before the expiration date of the contract.

And because I am writing this example, everything turns out okay and ETWO goes all the way up to $82 per share before the contract expires! Hooray!! We now can sell the shares in the contract at a profit of $2 per share ($82-$80)-- minus the original cost of the contract of $500-- for a net profit of $1500. Not bad! As in this example, when the stock price is above the strike price, the options are said to be in-the-money.

The leverage part is that we had control over 1000 shares of stock for only $500. We made a 300% profit without having to have the $75,000 ($75/share * 1000 shares) to control the stock outright. That's leverage.

The danger is that the options contract will expire worthless. If the price of the stock fails to meet the strike price of the contract before the expiration date. You are out the price of the contract. However, you can always attempt to cut your losses by selling the contract to some other fool before this happens.

Aside of the prerequisite of having a lead-lined stomach to trade options, you also need to know the following about a stock before you options trade:

• Time- How long do you need the contract for?
• Direction- Is the stock going to move up or down within the time frame (this would decide a put option or a call option.
• Magnitude- How far is the stock going to move up or down? What strike price am I willing to settle on?

Beware of options e2 trader, many a time has an expired options contract been the last thoughts of trader as s/he lept from the 25th floor...

An HTTP method which clients can use to get information about a server but without getting the content or causing any other effect. The URI can be an asterisk, and that means that que client is asking about the whole server, and not about a resource in particular. This method can be used to find out which things a server supports, e.g. if it supports HTTP/1.1.

$ telnet www.everything2.com 80
Trying 206.170.14.131...
Connected to www.everything2.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
OPTIONS * HTTP/1.0

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 03:20:39 GMT
Server: Apache/1.3.9 (Unix) Debian/GNU mod_ssl/2.4.10 OpenSSL/0.9.4 mod_perl/1.21_03-dev
Content-Length: 0
Allow: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, TRACE
Connection: close

Connection closed by foreign host.
$ _