logic bomb
= L =
loop through
logical adj.
[from the technical term `logical device',
wherein a physical device is referred to by an arbitrary
`logical' name] Having the role of. If a person (say, Les
Earnest at SAIL) who had long held a certain post left and were
replaced, the replacement would for a while be known as the
`logical' Les Earnest. (This does not imply any judgment on the
replacement.) Compare virtual.
At Stanford, `logical' compass directions denote a coordinate
system relative to El Camino Real, in which `logical north' is
always toward San Francisco and `logical south' is always toward
San Jose-in spite of the fact that El Camino Real runs physical
north/south near San Francisco, physical east/west near San Jose,
and along a curve everywhere in between. (The best rule of thumb
here is that, by definition, El Camino Real always runs logical
north-south.)
In giving directions, one might say: "To get to Rincon Tarasco
restaurant, get onto El Camino Bignum going logical north."
Using the word `logical' helps to prevent the recipient from
worrying about that the fact that the sun is setting almost
directly in front of him. The concept is reinforced by North
American highways which are almost, but not quite, consistently
labeled with logical rather than physical directions. A similar
situation exists at MIT: Route 128 (famous for the electronics
industry that grew up along it) wraps roughly 3 quarters
around Boston at a radius of 10 miles, terminating near the
coastline at each end. It would be most precise to describe the
two directions along this highway as `clockwise' and
`counterclockwise', but the road signs all say "north" and
"south", respectively. A hacker might describe these directions
as `logical north' and `logical south', to indicate that they
are conventional directions not corresponding to the usual
denotation for those words.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.