spiffy
= S =
spin
spike v.
1. To defeat a selection mechanism by
introducing a (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific
result. The word is used in several industries; telephone
engineers refer to spiking a relay by inserting a pin to hold the
relay in either the closed or open state, and railroaders refer to
spiking a track switch so that it cannot be moved. In programming
environments it normally refers to a temporary change, usually for
testing purposes (as opposed to a permanent change, which would be
called hardwired). 2. [borderline techspeak] A visible peak in
an otherwise rather constant graph (e.g. a sudden surge in line
voltage, an unexpected short "high" on a logical line in a
circuit). Hackers frequently use this for a sudden short increase
in some quantity such as system load or network traffic.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.