by Grant Barrett
cloud computing, noun.The use of computer services distributed across the Internet in such a way that no machine is solely responsible for any given task and multiple machines can work together as if they were a single computer.
Mr. Winer began discussing cloud-computing ideas with several Microsoft developers in 1998. —The New York Times, April 9, 2001
“Cloud computing, cloud services is computing and services that people can access over the Internet,” Banerjee said, offering up his own definition. An audience member … defined cloud computing as “distributed computing trying to be a mainframe.” —ComputerWorld, September 30, 2008
digital cliff, noun. The sharp degradation of a digital broadcast signal beyond a certain distance.
Engineers talk about the “graceful degradation” of analog system and the “catastrophic failure” of digital systems. This so-called “digital cliff” is pretty much a bugaboo designed to frighten the uninformed. —Broadcasting & Cable, November 1, 1993
A majority of complaints involved the inability of some households in remote or rural areas to receive TV stations they once got via analog signals. Martin said this was due largely to the “digital cliff effect,” which causes a DTV receiver to go blank when the signal weakens over great distance. —Daily Variety, September 23, 2008
TBTF, noun. An initialism for “too big to fail,” used to describe very large financial institutions believed to require protection from financial collapse.
Mr. Conover’s statement was met by jibes from committee members, who said the government had created a new category of bank: the “TBTF” bank, for Too Big To Fail. —The Wall Street Journal, September 20, 1984
[W]hat the bailout bill represents is our government’s capitulation to its own inability to reach a coherent policy on TBTF. The policy Treasury and the Fed have adopted is that the entire system is too big to fail. —Reuters, September 29, 2008
These entries are derived from the records of the Double-Tongued Dictionary, at Doubletongued.org.
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