enshittify

en-verb

enshittify (third-person singular simple present enshittifies, present participle enshittifying, simple past and past participle enshittified)

enshittifies (present singular third-person)
enshittifying (participle present)
enshittified (participle past)
enshittified (past)

From en- + shittify. Coined by Canadian-British-American blogger, journalist, and science fiction author Cory Doctorow in 2022 along with enshittification.

coin

For quotations using this term, see Citations:enshittify.

(technology, neologism) To make an online platform worse by enshittification.


→ Russian: Т9 (T9)

(mobile technology) a late-1990s predictive text technology by Tegic Communications for mobile phones with a 3×4 numeric keypad


technology education

(technology, education) The study of technology that involves exploring the processes and knowledge related to technology, empowering individuals to shape and transform the physical world by manipulating materials and tools.


mixnet

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-mixnet.wav

One type of mix network accepts as input a collection of ciphertexts, and outputs the corresponding plaintexts in a randomly permuted order. The main privacy property desired of such a mixnet is that the permutation matching inputs to outputs should be known only to the mixnet, and no one else. In particular, an adversary should be unable to guess which input ciphertext corresponds to an output plaintext any more effectively than by guessing at random.

2004, Philippe Golle, Markus Jakobsson, Ari Juels, Paul Syverson, “Universal Re-encryption for Mixnets”, in Topics in Cryptology – CT-RSA 2004 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 2964), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 163:

Each server in the mixnet removes only one layer of encryption, so that only the last server knows a message's ultimate destination.

2016 July 11, Larry Hardesty, Phys.org, archived from the original on 2023-01-28:

This issue of privacy in blockchain isn't new, and many ideas have been proposed, such as keeping the data off-chain and using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to prove we did the right computation (e.g., Aleo and Aztec) or using mixnets to anonymize transactions (e.g., Tornado Cash).

2023 May 26, Rand Hindi, “How Homomorphic Encryption Can Make Blockchain Private”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-12:

(communication, technology) A server or group of servers facilitating private communication between individuals by randomly scrambling the order that messages are received, so that an adversary is unable to determine the source or destination of any message.


de-Google

en-verb

de-Google (third-person singular simple present de-Googles, present participle de-Googling, simple past and past participle de-Googled)

de-Googles (present singular third-person)
de-Googling (participle present)
de-Googled (participle past)
de-Googled (past)
deGoogle (alternative)
degoogle (alternative)

Murena is in the business of deGoogling Android smartphones in the name of privacy.

2023 September 5, Natasha Lomas, “A closer look at e/OS: Murena's privacy-first 'deGoogled' Android alternative”, in TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2023-09-06:

(intransitive, transitive, technology, neologism) To remove all Google products and software from (something).


de-Googled

deGoogled (alternative)
degoogled (alternative)

I bought a de-Googled smartphone so Google doesn't have access to all my data.

And some things still are extremely difficult, like removing Google services from my Android devices. To that end, I had originally purchased a OnePlus 3T several years ago with the intention of installing the de-Googled LineageOS variant of Android on it, but perhaps due to a lack of confidence in not bricking the $400 device during the installation procedure I could never quite bring myself to wipe the phone clean of its factory-installed operating system.

2021 September 2, Bryan Cockfield, “Pining For A De-Googled Smartphone”, in Hackaday, archived from the original on 2023-09-23:

The /e/ Foundation's de-Googled version of Android 10 has reached the market in a range of smartphones aimed at the privacy-conscious.

2022 June 2, Liam Proven, “Murena and /e/ Foundation launch privacy-centric smartphones”, in The Register, archived from the original on 2023-09-26:

Murena can even sell you a deGoogled (Google) Pixel which comes purged of the usual Google services — with no Play Store, Chrome browser, Google Maps etc — and running its alternative /e/OS, rather than mainstream Android.

(technology, neologism) That has had all Google products and software removed.


cheapfake

Compound of cheap + fake, modelled after deepfake.

"Cheapfakes" rely on free software that allows manipulation through easy conventional editing techniques like speeding, slowing, and cutting, as well as nontechnical manipulations like restaging or recontextualizing existing footage that are already causing problems.

2019 June 12, Joan Donovan, Britt Paris, “Beware the Cheapfakes”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-19:

Now that global superpowers are openly sharing cheapfakes on social media, what's to stop them (or any other actor) from deploying more sophisticated visual disinformation as it emerges?

2020 December 22, Nina Schick, “Don't underestimate the cheapfake”, in MIT Technology Review, Cambridge, M.A.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-04:

Aciman also noted that "cheapfakes" and other manipulated media may still be removed if it violates the platform's other policies around, say, misinformation or hate speech.

2023 December 18, Vittoria Elliott, “Worried About Political Deepfakes? Beware the Spread of ’Cheapfakes’”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-27:

(neologism, technology) A fake or misleading piece of media (such as a video clip or image) created using conventional methods, as opposed to AI deep learning algorithms.


shallowfake

Compound of shallow + fake, modelled after deepfake. Coined by AI and human rights researcher Sam Gregory.

coinage

The technology industry has a unique opportunity to tackle "deepfakes"—the problem of fake audio and video created using artificial intelligence—before they become a widespread problem, according to human rights campaigner Sam Gregory. ¶ But, he warns, major companies are still a very long way from tackling the pervasive and more damaging issue of cruder "shallowfake" misinformation.

2019 March 25, Bobbie Johnson, “Deepfakes are solvable—but don't forget that "shallowfakes" are already pervasive”, in MIT Technology Review, Cambridge, M.A.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-04:

Facebook last week banned deepfake videos that are likely to mislead viewers into thinking someone "said words that they did not actually say", in the run-up to the 2020 US election. However, the policy covers only misinformation produced using AI, meaning "shallowfakes" (see below) are still allowed on the platform.

2020 January 13, Ian Sample, “What are deepfakes – and how can you spot them?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-25:

Hundreds of articles have focused on these and hypothetical deepfake scenarios and what they mean for the future of video and trust. But despite all this attention, shallowfakes — videos shared with misleading contexts or small edits — are far more widespread and easier to produce.

2022 August 26, Sam Gregory, “Shallowfakes are rampant: Tools to spot them must be equally accessible”, in The Hill, Washington, D.C.: Nexstar Media Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-23:

(neologism, technology) A misleading or slightly edited piece of media (such as a video clip or image) created using conventional methods, as opposed to AI deep learning algorithms.


clickwork

But in a high-wage economy like Finland, finding those data laborers was difficult. The Finnish welfare system's generous unemployment benefits leaves little incentive for Finns to sign up to low-wage clickwork platforms like Amazon's Mechanical Turk.

2023 September 11, Morgan Meaker, “These Prisoners Are Training AI”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-02-06:

'Clickwork' runs like clockwork as prisoners train AI systems

2023 September 14, Emma Yeomans, “(article title)”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-14:

(technology) Repetitive and unskilled digital labour.


clickworker

Compound of click + worker. Equivalent to clickwork + -er.

Around the world, millions of so-called "clickworkers" train artificial intelligence models, teaching machines the difference between pedestrians and palm trees, or what combination of words describe violence or sexual abuse. Usually these workers are stationed in the global south, where wages are cheap. OpenAI, for example, uses an outsourcing firm that employs clickworkers in Kenya, Uganda, and India.

Many clickworkers operate in a gig economy, using platforms such as Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a name inspired by the 18th-century chess-playing automaton dubbed "the Turk", to pick up brief, specific tasks for fixed pay.

2023 September 14, Emma Yeomans, “’Clickwork’ runs like clockwork as prisoners train AI systems”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-14:

(technology) A person who performs clickwork (repetitive and unskilled digital labour).


prompt crafting

Apparently appeared at about the same time as prompt engineering, the two terms being interchangeable.

promptcrafting (alternative)
promptcraft (alternative)

Guiding students in assessing AI-generated content instills discernment, while prompt crafting elicits original thinking.

2022, Sean Doyle, “Chapter 6: Augmenting Intelligence with Generative AI”, in Julia Nyberg, Jessica A. Manzone, editors, Practices That Promote Innovation for Talented Students, IGI Global, page 139:

2022, M. L. Ronn, Indie Author Confidential 11: Secrets No One Will Tell You About Being a Writer, Author Level Up, unnumbered page,
Non-artists don't want to go through the trouble of learning the nuances of prompt crafting, so they will rely on other people to do it, creating a new cottage industry […] .

2023, Jason Brownlee, Adrian Tam, Matthew Mayo, Abid Ali Awan, Kanwal Mehreen, Maximizing Productivity with ChatGPT, MachineLearningMastery.com, eBook, page 33,
One way to improve your prompt crafting is to get ChatGPT involved.

When GPT-4 was tested by medical experts from Microsoft without any specialized prompt crafting, it exceeded the passing score on USMLE by over 20 points and outperformed earlier general-purpose models (GPT-3.5) as well as models specifically fine-tuned on medical knowledge (Med-PaLM, a prompt-tuned version of Flan-PaLM 540B) [13].

2023, Aravind Kumaresan, Lorna Udan, Shazad Ashaf, “Potential Role of ChatGPT in Healthcare in the Prevention and Management of Non-communicable Diseases”, in Lorna Uden, I-Hsien Ting, editors, Knowledge Management in Organisations: 17th International Conference, KMO 2023, Proceedings, Springer, page 432:

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

prompt engineering
prompt engineering#English

(artificial intelligence, technology, neologism) Synonym of prompt engineering.


GFT

en-noun

GFT (countable and uncountable, plural GFTs)

From Atari's official website and blog, coined in 2022.

A GFT is a surprise, limited edition, gift-wrapped NFTs designed to delight – on any occasion.

2022 January 27, “Atari is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary with giftable NFTs”, in New Musical Express:

Purchasers can either keep their GFT for themselves, or alternatively, and as their title suggests, they can gift the suspense-filled digital asset to a friend.

2022 February 1, “Atari Combine NFTs with Loot Boxes in New ‘GFT’ Collection”, in NFT Plaza:

(cryptocurrencies, technology, neologism) Initialism of gift-fungible token.


lazy girl job

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-lazy girl job.wav

Coined by author and social media influencer Gabrielle Judge in 2023.

coinage

[Gabrielle] Judge says a lazy girl job looks slightly different to everyone, because each worker has their own unique circumstances and needs.

2023 July 26, Bashirat Oladele, “How the 'lazy girl job' took over work TikTok”, in BBC News:

“There’s nothing lazy about expecting a job that pays you well, gives you good work-life balance and doesn’t overwork you. And no one in a lazy girl job is actually lazy”

2023 August 1, Angela Yang, quoting Gabrielle Judge, “‘Lazy girl jobs’ are trending in rally against burnout culture”, in NBC News:

Working a "lazy girl" job doesn't mean Gen Z workers are slacking off. Rather, they're rejecting hustle culture for well-paying, flexible jobs that end right at 5 p.m.

2023 October 18, Paola Peralta, “What the 'lazy girl job' trend says about Gen Z's mental health”, in Employee Benefit News:

If the post-pandemic decline in the appeal of “hustle culture” and “leaning in” laid bare structures of worker exploitation, the rise of trends such as “bare minimum Mondays”, “lazy girl jobs” and “act your wage” are manifestations of a resentment in search of articulation.

2024 May 18, “Loud quitting: Catharsis, breakdown”, in Indian Express, Mumbai:

You can think of it as financial education for the "lazy-girl job" generation — those who decry the corporate hustle and seek out low-stress jobs that don't take over their lives.

2024 August 12, Emilie Friedlander, “Gen Zers are investing their way out of the 9-to-5”, in Business Insider, US edition:

(social media, business, technology, neologism) A job that is well paid, does not demand long hours or too much effort, and can often be done remotely.


Apparatgeist

Pseudo-Germanism, derived from Apparat (“apparatus, device, machine”) + Geist (“spirit”). Perhaps influenced by zeitgeist. Coined by American communications academic James E. Katz.

coinage

A few years ago such questions provoked academic controversy. Not everybody agrees with Ms Ito's argument that technology is always socially constructed. James Katz, a professor of communication at Rutgers University in New Jersey, argues that there is an Apparatgeist (German for "spirit of the machine"). For personal communication technologies, he argues, people react in pretty much the same way, a few national variations notwithstanding. "Regardless of culture," he suggests, "when people interact with personal communication technologies, they tend to standardise infrastructure and gravitate towards consistent tastes and universal features."

2009 December 30, James E. Katz, quotee, “The Apparatgeist calls”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-03-26:

In constructing such a multiscalar approach, I want to draw upon the same insight that informed the theory of Apparatgeist, which James E. Katz and Mark Aakhus proposed to define as referring to 'the common set of strategies or principles of reasoning about technology evident in the identifiable, consistent, and generalized patterns of technological advancement throughout history' (Katz & Aakhus 2002: 307).

2012, Imar O. de Vries, Tantalisingly Close: An Archaeology of Communication Desires in Discourses of Mobile Wireless Media, Amsterdam University Press, →ISBN, page 95:

(technology, sociology) The inherent properties of a device which affect the way it is used by individuals across cultures.


autocorrupt

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-autocorrupt.wav

From auto- + corrupt, jokingly implying that the writer had meant to type autocorrect.

Autocorrupt fails to autocorrect "Autocorrect" to "Autocorrupt". :D

2005 July 20, Lee Sau Dan, “Easiest/quickest method for very simple interfaces?”, in comp.os.linux.misc (Usenet):

As for the embarrassing typos? It is easy enough to make those on a computer without "autocorrupt". Embarrassing miscorrections are pretty rare. It is just that when they do occur, they tend to get packaged into viral images and shared widely.

2017, Colin Beveridge, The Maths Behind...: Discover the Mathematics of Everyday Events, London: Cassell Illustrated, →ISBN, page 85, column 2:

Thank's autocorrupt.

2020 December 13, Lewis, “Voicemail setup”, in misc.phone.mobile.iphone (Usenet):

Yeah. This iPad I use for araa allows me to see 8 lines--*maybe*--of a post I am replying to. (Fully have of the screen is filled with the keyboard.) I have to stop typing and scroll downward every time I think I *might* have made a typo. And don't get me started on autocorrupt.

2022 February 2, Rob D., “lockdowns had little orno impact on covid-19 deaths”, in alt.recovery.aa (Usenet):

(technology, derogatory, humorous) An autocorrect feature which inadvertently introduces new errors into the writer's text.


bitcom

WWW apes TV with bitcoms

1995 November 5, “(article title)”, in Variety, Los Angeles, C.A.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-04-28:

The site, which officially launched Monday, features videos, dubbed "bitcoms," of 30 to 90 seconds. Visitors can also participate in contests, vote and comment on all posted material from comics such as site co-founder Ray Ellin and former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Dean Edwards.

2006 September 6, “Web site fosters 'comedy community'”, in CNET, archived from the original on 2024-04-28:

Sitcom to Bitcom

2007 March 1, “Snack Attack!”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-04:

The bitcoms are shot in a comedy club and feature either TBS talent or comics hired by TBS especially for the bitcoms.

2008 January 23, Gail Schiller, “Open mike night with TBS 'bitcoms'”, in The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles, C.A.: Eldridge Industries, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-04-28:

For instance, TBS, part of Turner Entertainment, will offer four different pod-busters - bitcoms, which will feature comedians performing skits about sponsors like Pizza Hut; microseries, two-minute shows that integrate advertisers like Revlon into plots; customized spots for series like "House of Payne" and "My Boys," featuring cast members promoting sponsors like Chrysler and Alltel; and matchups between the themes of spots and shows, known as TV in Context.

2008 July 7, Stuart Elliott, “Networks employ ’pod-busters’ to keep viewers in their seats”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-05:

(technology, informal) A short sitcom-style comedy video viewed online.


bitlegging

If people can take your content without compensation, where do the revenues come from? "Bitlegging" can't be ignored: there's no doubt that it can be a significant drag on profits. Luckily, there are some compensating factors.

1999, Carl Shapiro, Hal R[onald] Varian, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, Boston, M.A.: Harvard Business School Press, →ISBN, page 92:

Of course, downloading a ripped-off version of, say, the All Saints' Never Ever is the digital equivalent of bootlegging (bitlegging?). But MP3.com advises a legal alternative: buy the CD then use a "ripper" to create an MP3 file for your own use.

1999 March 11, John Graham-Cumming, “Make your PC really sing”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-05-08:

Bitlegging is NOT theft.

1999 August 20, ewhac, “First person convicted of U.S. Internet piracy”, in Slashdot, archived from the original on 2023-08-10:

Every passing year generates a wealth of new online terms: Companies can go 'viral' to reach thousands of customers with their advert or marketing message, or can try 'slivercasting' to target a small audience. There's also been an increase in blegging, bitlegging and splogging (a blend of spam and blog).

2006 November 26, Manisha Singh, “Lexicon techs all”, in The Economic Times, Mumbai: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-04-28:

'Bitlegging' describes the unlicensed downloading of copyright material, while 'ransomware' denotes programs that illegally encrypt personal files to prevent access.

[2007 May 16, Lawrence Wallis, “An increasing fetish for offlish”, in PrintWeek, archived from the original on 2024-04-28:


blogject

Blend of blog + object. Coined by American academic Julian Bleecker in 2005.

As I don't want to be too long, here are the essential attributes of blogjects.

2006 March 14, Roland Piquepaille, “The new world of 'blogjects'”, in ZDNET, archived from the original on 2023-09-26:

Julian Bleecker discusses the ins and outs of turning his car into a blogject.

2006 May 26, “Blogject Watch: Julian Bleecker’s Car”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-05-04:

I scour every photo feed published for anything that appears to be a photo of me. Most of it's from blogjects, CCTV cameras, and crap like that.

2009, Cory Doctorow, Makers, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 295:

Design business conferences such as Lift and Where 2.0 feature the latest blogjects, mashups, and distributed narrative installations.

2013, Malcolm McCullough, “Inscribing the Ambient Commons”, in Ulrik Ekman, editor, Throughout: Art and Culture Emerging With Ubiquitous Computing, Cambridge, M.A., London: The MIT Press, →ISBN, page 450:

(technology, neologism) A physical object that automatically posts updates about its current location and state online.


standby time

en-noun

standby time (countable and uncountable, plural standby times)

(electronics, telephony, technology) The maximum amount of time in which a mobile phone can be continuously turned on and ready to communicate.


logject

(computing, software, technology) An object with embedded software capable of monitoring and recording, in some manner, its own activity and operation.


cookie licking

Suppose there is a list of items to be done, say, tasks or projects or topics for investigation. Somebody signals interest in a particular project, thereby making it unavailable for others to work on. If the person never actually starts working on the project, then that person is accused of engaging in cookie licking.

2009 December 1, Raymond Chen, “Microspeak: Cookie licking”, in The Old New Thing, archived from the original on 2024-10-02:

Allow people to act out in those ways, and you're guaranteeing that more counterproductive cookie-licking ways will emerge as you promote talent through the ranks. Left unchecked, advanced cookie-licking could include the following organizational poison: […]

2011 October 10, Kris Dunn, “Attack of the Cookie-Lickers”, in CFO, archived from the original on 2024-03-01:

Another way that executives waste employees' time, slow the work and add to their own burdens is by "cookie licking," a term inspired by sneaky children who lick cookies to deter others from eating them.

2018 August 12, Robert I. Sutton, “How Bosses Waste Their Employees’ Time”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-19:

Several operations executives told me they were embarrassed by that stunt (which seven years later, had progressed no further than private tests). They used an old internal Microsoft term to describe it: "cookie licking," or the act of claiming to do something before you actually do it, in order to capture notoriety and prevent others from following.

2021, Brad Stone, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire, New York, N.Y. […]: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 233:

(chiefly technology) The act of claiming a project or idea for oneself, discouraging others from working on it, but then never finishing it.


Entity List

(US) a list of sanctioned persons and corporations prepared by the Bureau of Industry and Security. Such sanctioned targets are prohibited from accessing certain American technology unless a license is obtained.


techquity

TechQuity (alternative)
Techquity (alternative)

2020 June 1, Kelly Jean Craig, Kyu B. Rhee, “1193-P: “TechQuity” in Diabetes: Does Digital Health Technology Improve Equity?”, in Diabetes, volume 69, number Supplemental 1, American Diabetes Association, →DOI, →ISSN:

The term TechQuity is formed by combining the words technology and equity. This concept arose from the realization that the pandemic aggravated the system marginalization of certain groups in society from access to health care services due to a lack of access to some digital tools.

2023 April 15, Bruna T. Leite, Caio S. Silva, Lucas F. Silva, Silmara Conchão, Ligia F. N. Reato, Patricia Pereira, Luciana Pereira, “Designing Digital Services to Connect Deaf People to Public Health Care Systems”, in Proceedings of IDEAS 2022: Interdisciplinary Conference on Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Systems, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 328:

One specific and essential area where nurse informaticists will add value to achieve parctice moving into the future is embracing and operationalizing the concept of Techquity. The definition of the concept is "the strategic development and deployment of technology to advance health equity" (Rhee et al., 2021), and explicitly names social justice as the required foundation for remediating health inequities between populations that historically and currently face structural racism, and other forms of social and behavioral exploitation and dehumanizing treatment (Braveman et al., 2011).

2024 June 3, Whende M. Carroll, “8.3.5.2”, in Nursing Informatics: Truths, Talent, and Transforming the Future, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN:

"By creating technology that is accessible, inexpensive and sensitive to socioeconomic and cultural hurdles, techquity will help close that gap and ensure that everyone benefits."

2025 January 12, Ari Daniel, “7 global buzzwords for 2025: From 'techquity' to 'climate displacement' to 'belonging'”, in Goats and Soda, NPR:

The application of technology to make more equitable outcomes, particularly in the healthcare industry.


RedNote

Compound of red + note. English translation of Chinese 小红书 (Xiaohongshu, literally “Little Red Book”). Coined in 2024, but launched in 2013.

calque

The start of this week saw a dramatic uptick in Google searches and social media posts about RedNote, as well as its surge to the top spot of the "free apps" chart on Apple's app store.

2025 January 17, “What to know about RedNote, the Chinese app that American TikTokkers are flooding”, in NPR:

(China, social media, technology, neologism) Chinese social networking and e-commerce platform.


founder mode

Coined by Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, in an essay where he described a leadership style characterized by a hands-on, deeply involved approach to running a company, in 2024.

The battle over “founder mode” versus “manager mode” is one of those manufactured dramas that only a small segment of the world cares about — like going to Davos or Cannes or the Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

2024 September 11, Allison Morrow, “‘Founder mode’ is the latest Silicon Valley buzzword telling toxic bosses they’re greatThe King of the Geezer Teasers”, in CNN:

(business, technology, neologism) A management style where the founder of a company is involved in all aspects of the business, rather than delegating responsibilities to managers.


digital audio

(sound engineering, technology) The representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, a digital form.


Digital Audio Tape

(sound engineering, technology) A signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987.


HOVM

(technology) One or more of the Chinese smartphone brands Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.


agentic AI

Attributed the agentic AI term's origins to AI researcher Andrew Ng.

While previous AI assistants were rules-based and had limited ability to act independently, agentic AI will be empowered to do more on our behalf.

2024 December 12, Mark Purdy, “What Is Agentic AI, and How Will It Change Work?”, in Harvard Business Review:

(neologism, technology, artificial intelligence) A type of artificial intelligence that can make decisions and take actions without the need for human input


flat metro

Conceived in the early 2010s, near the end of the "Frutiger" time period.

(aesthetic, technology, neologism) Aesthetic that bears a heavy resemblance to and pioneers elements of Flat Design. Characterized by blocks of flat color contrasted by monochromatic backgrounds, simple vector-based patterns, and organic or geometric shapes. It served as a transition from Frutiger Aero to Flat Design during the Early/Mid-2010s.


factory setting

en-noun

factory setting (plural factory settings)

(computing, computer hardware, technology, also engineering) The default configuration of a device when it is first manufactured and sold.


agetech

(neologism, technology) The business of using technology to offer services that help old people.


TOAD attack

Abbreviation from telephone-oriented attack delivery attack.

TOAD attacks often involve callback phishing, where victims are tricked into calling fake call centers. Before they strike, scammers will gather a victim’s credentials from various sources, such as past data breaches, social media profiles, and information bought on the dark web.

2024 June 6, Alex Lvoff, “How TOAD Scams Manipulate and Cheat Customers”, in Experian:

(cybersecurity, technology, computing, neologism) Abbreviation for “telephone-oriented attack delivery attack”: a type of fraud where a criminal contacts someone by phone, text or email and tricks them into giving information such as passwords, bank account details etc.


instant replay system

instant replay system (plural instant replay systems)

(sports, technology) A technology to review controversial or close calls by officials through video playback, allowing for analysis of plays from multiple angles and in slow motion to potentially correct or modify initial decisions.


sockfarm

(wiki jargon, neologism, technology) A coordinated network of fake online accounts, or "sock puppets", created and operated by a single individual or group to manipulate online platforms, particularly wikis and forums. These sock puppets are used to simulate consensus, sway votes, evade bans, or disrupt discussions. The term "sock farm" emphasizes the large number of these accounts, which are cultivated over time to appear legitimate and influence outcomes.


fox tox

“The fox tox look strikes a balance between drama and subtlety by giving your brows a noticeable lift that’s still fresh and natural,” says Marris. She explains that with fox tox, the brows appear snatched while the eyes look elongated and youthful.

2024 December 5, Jessica Fields, quoting Melanie Marris, “2 Brow Looks We’re Going to See Everywhere in 2025, According to a Celeb Brow Stylist”, in New Beauty, archived from the original on 2025-02-14:

(Internet slang, neologism, technology) A cosmetic treatment where Botox injections are used to lift the outer corners of someone’s eyes, making their face look like that of a fox.