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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>pseudo</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../P.html" title="P"/><link rel="previous" href="prowler.html" title="prowler"/><link rel="next" href="pseudoprime.html" title="pseudoprime"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">pseudo</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="prowler.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">P</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="pseudoprime.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="pseudo"/><dt xmlns="" id="pseudo"><b>pseudo</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/soo<6F>doh/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [Usenet: truncation of &#8216;pseudonym&#8217;]</p></dd><dd><p> 1. An electronic-mail or <a href="../U/Usenet.html"><i class="glossterm">Usenet</i></a> persona
adopted by a human for amusement value or as a means of avoiding negative
repercussions of one's net.behavior; a &#8216;nom de Usenet&#8217;, often
associated with forged postings designed to conceal message origins.
Perhaps the best-known and funniest hoax of this type is
<a href="../B/B1FF.html"><i class="glossterm">B1FF</i></a>. See also <a href="../T/tentacle.html"><i class="glossterm">tentacle</i></a>.
</p></dd><dd><p> 2. Notionally, a <a href="../F/flamage.html"><i class="glossterm">flamage</i></a>-generating AI
program simulating a Usenet user. Many flamers have been accused of
actually being such entities, despite the fact that no AI program of the
required sophistication yet exists. However, in 1989 there was a famous
series of forged postings that used a phrase-frequency-based travesty
generator to simulate the styles of several well-known flamers; it was
based on large samples of their back postings (compare
<a href="../D/Dissociated-Press.html"><i class="glossterm">Dissociated Press</i></a>). A significant number of people
were fooled by the forgeries, and the debate over their authenticity was
settled only when the perpetrator came forward to publicly admit the
hoax.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="prowler.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../P.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="pseudoprime.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">prowler<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>pseudoprime</td></tr></table></div></body></html>